The Public Theatre News

Classic Stage Company (CSC), under the leadership of Artistic Director Brian Kulick and Executive Director Jessica R. Jenen, will present two-time Academy Award-winner Dianne Wiest in THE FOREST, by Alexander Ostrovosky, translated by Kathleen Tolan, and directed by Brian Kulick, beginning performances Friday, April 23 at CSC with an official press opening Thursday, May 6 at 7pm. THE FOREST will also star Obie Award-winning actor John Douglas Thompson, who earned great acclaim last year for his title role performance in Othello at Theatre for a New Audience. THE FOREST will play a limited engagement through Sunday May 30 only.

Tony Award winner Karen Olivo (West Side Story), most recently seen in a guest-starring role on NBC's 'Law & Order: Criminal Intent,' has been cast in the recurring role of Giada Cabrini in the critically-acclaimed CBS television series, 'The Good Wife.' Starring as Giada Cabrini, Olivo plays a law student who is interning with Will Gardner (Josh Charles), to whom she's clearly attracted.

City Parks Foundation (David Rivel, Executive Director) has announced their 25th Anniversary season of SummerStage, with twenty free performance dates and six unique theater productions from June 11 - August 27, 2010.

Broadway leading man Gavin Creel, who is currently reprising his Broadway role of Claude in the West End's production of HAIR, will appear on May 4 at the London club Ronnie Scott's.

Chicago Opera Theater (COT) will close the second production of their 2010 Spring Festival Season - Cavalli's Jason (Giasone) on May 2 at the Harris Theater in Millennium Park.

The Midwest premiere of Bill W. and Dr. Bob is an inspirational, gripping and timely story about the men and their wives whose relationships pioneered the beginning of Alcoholics Anonymous and the creation of Al-Anon. The production will close May 2nd.

Casting is complete for Goodman Theatre's Chicago-premiere production of Tracey Scott Wilson's The Good Negro, directed by Resident Director Chuck Smith. Wilson and Smith have tapped nine actors to bring this historical drama to the Albert stage, including Karen Aldridge (Goodman's The Cook; Proof); Teagle F. Bougere (Broadway's A Raisin in the Sun; The Tempest); Tory O. Davis (Goodman's Magnolia); John Hoogenakker (Goodman's Rock 'n' Roll; Chicago Shakespeare's Othello); Billy Eugene Jones (Broadway's Passing Strange; Radio Golf); Nambi Kelley (Goodman's Crumbs from the Table of Joy; Victory Gardens' The Lost Boys of Sudan); Demetrios Troy (Northlight's Awake and Sing; Chicago Shakespeare's Richard III); Dan Waller (Goodman's Ghostwritten; Talking Pictures) and Mick Weber (Goodman's Rock 'n' Roll; Chicago Theatre's Shear Madness). The production will run from May 1 - June 6, 2010.

Wizard Oil Productions is proud to present the world premiere of Adam Kraar's new play Empire of the Trees. Directed by Sherri Eden Barber, this magical new play gets a 10-performance limited engagement at The June Havoc Theatre: Thursday, April 22nd - Friday April 30th.

The cast of UNCHAIN MY HEART, The Ray Charles Musical, will be lead by Brandon Victor Dixon (2010 Lortel, Drama League & Outer Critics Circle nominee for The Scottsboro Boys, 2006 Tony nominee for The Color Purple) starring as 'Ray Charles' and Nikki Renée Daniels (Promises, Promises, Nine) as 'Della'.

Penumbra Theatre Company, the nation's preeminent African American theatre, proudly announces the opening of Two Old Black Guys Just Sitting Around Talking, by Gus Edwards, directed by Lou Bellamy on Thursday, April 29, 2010. The production will run April 29 - May 23, 2010.

New York's OBIE Award-winning Epic Theatre Ensemble (Zak Berkman, Melissa Friedman, Ron Russell, Founding Executive Directors) today announced plans for an ambitious series of events surrounding the highly anticipated New York premiere of Sarah Ruhl's Passion Play, directed by Mark Wing-Davey.

Penumbra Theatre Company, the nation's preeminent African American theatre, proudly announces the opening of Two Old Black Guys Just Sitting Around Talking, by Gus Edwards, directed by Lou Bellamy on Thursday, April 29, 2010. The production will run April 29 - May 23, 2010.

Mentalist R.J. Williams is set to perform his amazing feats on Jeremy X. Halpern's new weekly variety show, Brooklyn Basement Tuesdays, aired on www.Weirdos.TV. Tuesday nights at midnight, Jeremy X. holds court in the Weirdos.TV studios in lovely hipsterville, a.k.a. Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

New York's OBIE Award-winning Epic Theatre Ensemble (Zak Berkman, Melissa Friedman, Ron Russell, Founding Executive Directors) today announced the cast and creative team for the New York premiere of Sarah Ruhl's Passion Play (In The Next Room… or the vibrator play) and directed by Mark Wing-Davey (The Singing Forest). The cast will include Brendan Averett, Polly Noonan, Daniel Pearce, Alex Podulke, Keith Reddin, Godfrey L. Simmons Jr., T. Ryder Smith, Felix Solis Jr., Kate Turnbull and Nicole Wiesner.

Next Theatre Company and Artistic Director Jason Southerland are thrilled to announce the 30th anniversary season, a year dedicated to plays that explore the myths that men and women create about their lives. The season opens in the fall with a world premiere presented at the National New Play Network's annual showcase. It continues with the regional premiere of a play Southerland first read when he met with Israeli playwright Motti Lerner (Pangs of the Messiah) in Tel Aviv earlier this year. The season comes to its climactic end with a pair of plays by Phyllis Nagy (pronounced 'Naij') who has captured wide acclaim in the United Kingdom but has been rarely produced in the U.S.

The Theatre School at DePaul University's Showcase Series of Contemporary Plays and Classics presents ELECTRICIDAD, by Luis Alfaro and directed by Lisa Portes. This searing retelling of a Greek classic opens Friday, April 16, and runs through Sunday, April 25, 2010 at DePaul's historic Merle Reskin Theatre.

Chicago Opera Theater (COT) presents the opening production of the 2010 Spring Festival Season - Rossini's Moses in Egypt (Mosè in Egitto) on April 17, 21, 23 and 25 at the Harris Theater in Millennium Park.

Chicago Opera Theater (COT) presents the second production of their 2010 Spring Festival Season - Cavalli's Jason (Giasone) on April 24, 28, 30 and May 2 at the Harris Theater in Millennium Park.

Classic Stage Company (CSC), under the leadership of Artistic Director Brian Kulick and Executive Director Jessica R. Jenen, will present two-time Academy Award-winner Dianne Wiest in THE FOREST, by Alexander Ostrovosky, translated by Kathleen Tolan, and directed by Brian Kulick, beginning performances Friday, April 23 at CSC with an official press opening Thursday, May 6 at 7pm. THE FOREST will also star Obie Award-winning actor John Douglas Thompson, who earned great acclaim last year for his title role performance in Othello at Theatre for a New Audience. THE FOREST will play a limited engagement through Sunday May 30 only.

Classic Stage Company (CSC), under the leadership of Artistic Director Brian Kulick and Executive Director Jessica R. Jenen, will present two-time Academy Award-winner Dianne Wiest in THE FOREST, by Alexander Ostrovosky, translated by Kathleen Tolan, and directed by Brian Kulick, beginning performances Friday, April 23 at CSC (136 East 13th Street) with an official press opening Thursday, May 6 at 7pm.